CLASS ill. ORDER a.] GASTRIDIUM. MILIUM. 81 



GENUS XVIII. GASTRI'DIUM. BEAUV. Nit-grass. 



GEN. CHAR. Panicle contracted, spiked. Glumes two, unequal, awn- 

 less, unequally swelled at the base, much longer than the glu- 

 melles, which form a covering to the seed ; the outer valve mostly 

 with' a dorsal awn. Name from ya^Jov, a little belly, or swell- 

 ing ; on account of the swollen base of the glumes. 



1. G. lendi'gerum, Beauv. (Fig. 101.) awned Nit-grass. Glumes 

 unequally lanceolate, glumelles equal membranous, the outer one 

 awned. 



Lindley, Synopsis, p. 302. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 36. 

 Mil'iwm lendi'gerum, Linn. English Botany, t. 1107. English Flora, 

 vol. i. p. 88. Agros'tis austra'lis, Linn. ? 



Root fibrous. Stem from six to ten inches high, branching at the 

 base, smooth. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, rough on the upper sur- 

 face and edges. Sheaths striated, smooth, somewhat inflated. Ligula 

 oblong, generally torn. Inflorescence a lobed spiked panicle, erect, 

 tapering towards the end. Glumes shining, singularly swollen at the 

 base, rough on the keel, compressed upwards, the outer valve the 

 largest. Glumelles much smaller, membranous, downy ; outer valve 

 the largest, generally with a rough dorsal awn ; inner bifid at the apex, 

 hairy at the base. " Sometimes the rudiment of a second floret at the 

 back of the inner valve." Seed covered with the indurated glumelles, 

 and enveloped in the shining glumes. 



Habitat. Rare. In fields near the sea, where water has stagnated. 

 In the Isle of Shepey ; at Weyraouth ; Gillingham ; and at Cley in 

 Norfolk. 



Perennial ; flowering in August. 



This is a very distinct genus from Milium, with which it was for- 

 merly united. 



GENUS XIX. MIL'IUM. LINN. Millet-grass. 



GEN. CHAR. Panicle spreading. Glumes two, equal, flattish, awn- 

 less, ribbed. Glumelles two, equal, shorter than the glumes, 

 smooth, shining, ribless, without awns, forming a hard permanent 

 covering to the seed. Name from mille, a thousand ; a name ap- 

 plied by the ancients to a sort of corn or grass, remarkable for the 

 abundance of its seeds. 

 1. M. effu'mm, Linn. (Fig. 100.) spreading Millet-grass. Branches 



of the panicle spreading, partly whorled. 

 English Botany, t. 1 106. English Flora, vol. i. p. 87. Lindley, 



Synopsis, p. 301. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 36. Sinclair, Hort. 



Gram. Woburn. p. 403. 



VOL. i. 



M 



